Steam-generator



Patented Jan. 25,1881.

G; 11N. TOWER; Stvam Generator.

UNITED STATES PATENT @Erica GEORGE B. N. TOWER, OF CAMBRIDGE, ASSIGNOR TO LYDIE F.1RENSHAW AND DAVID RENSHAW, OF COHASSET, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEAM-GENERATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,920, dated January 25, 1881.

Application filed April 15, 1878.

To all whom it may concern: t

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. N. TOWER, o f Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Generators 5 and I do hereby declare that the said invention is fully set forth in the annexed specification and accompanying drawings.

My invention consists in an improvement of j 1o steam-generators; and its features are, that the main body or shell of the boiler is in one piece or tube, and instead of being cylindrical it is flattened on the-sides to somewhat of an oval form, the top and bottom of the shell being` curved, the top being larger than the bottom, and both bottom and top connected by flat tapering sides. The upper and lower portions of the tapering sides are connected by concentric water-tubes arranged vertically zo in sets extending the wholelength of the boiler,

' and the whole of the tubes and all but the upper part of the shell are inclosed within a reverberatory furnace.

In the drawings, Figure l shows my boiler 2 5 in crosssection, and Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section. I

A shows the main boiler or shell, which extends from one end to the other of a reverberatory furnace, and is of sufficient size to allow 3o a workman to enter and pass from one end to the other for the purpose of expanding the tubes, bracing, riveting, Sto.

a a are curved pipes or tubes, arranged in sets vertically and concentrically, as shown,

3 5 upon the sides of the shell A.

b .b and c c are the walls of a reverberatory furnace, b b being the lire-brick, and c c the common brick, which I prefer to separate by an air-space, as shown by the drawings. The

` 4o water-line is at or above the crown ofthe inside of the arch of the reverberatory furnace, and

there is a large steam-space above the waterline in the upper portion ofthe shell A, which is generally suflicient for the steam-drum. The

feed and blow-off pipes are at the lower part of the shell A.

The advantages of a reverberatory furnace are well known, and this construction exposes the whole of the water-surface of the shell A 5o and the whole exterior surfaces of the tubes a a to the action of the gases throughout its entire length. The water in the center of the shell A is constantly iiowing downward and toward the front or most heated portion of the boiler, While that at the sides is rising from the 5 5 lower portion of the shell through the tubes a a and discharging into its upper portion, and that along the sides of the shell is also constantly rising, both of these rising bodies being fed by the downward central body in the 6o shell A.

The steady and constant heat of a reverberatory furnace, acting upon the pipes ad and the water-surface of the shell A, cau-ses a rapid disengagement of steam into the upper portion of the shell A, while said shell, being larger at the top than at the bottom and with an unobstructed passage for the water from one end to the other, allows the water from which the steam has been disengaged to fall 7o freely through its central or cooler portion with a natural forward tendency toward the hottest portion of the boiler-that is, the part directly over the re.

The shell A is to be made of wrought-iron and braced at the points where the curved bottom and top connect with the tapering sides, and also at the central point, between the smallest of the tubes a, and is to have stays running from one head to the other. The 8o tubes are to be of wrought-iron or other suitable material, properly expanded into thel shell A, and each set should be placed at a sufficient distance from those adjacent to admit of the tubes being taken out and replaced, which operations can be performed on an inner tube by disengaging it from the shell, allowing it to drop between the sets and passing another up to take its place.

This construction affords me a very cheap, 9o simple, and effective form of boiler, which will make steam rapidly, and which can be operated with a minimum consumption of fuel, as the whole of the water which is in contact with the surface ot the main boiler or shell and with the surfaces of the concentric tubes is exposed to the action of the heat in a reverberatory furnace.

I am aware that the boilers patented to D.

Renshaw, March 12,1872, No. 125,113, and De- Ico cember 24, 1872, N o, 134,165, show upright central tubes, with sets of curved concentric tubes on the sides of said upright tubes, the whole iuclosed in a reverberatory furnace, and that other sectional boilers have been patented where tubes extended from the sides of thc boiler into the lire-chamber; but my boiler is not a sectional boiler, and possesses advantages of circulation and unity of the Waterbody Which cannot be found in any sectional boiler.

I am also aware that the boiler patented to me September l0. 1878, )10.207,831, hascnrved concentric tubes extending in sets across a recess in the boiler-shell and conneetimer the horizontal and vertical walls of said recess; but the construction oi' the present boiler dii'ers Widely from that of the boiler described in said patent, havingr no recess. I therefore disclaim said boiler and all sectional boilers in this connection.

What I claim as my invention isu The steam-generator above described, consisting of a main body or shell, A, said shell having a large curved top and small curved bottom, with sides connecting said top and bottom, the upper and lower portions of said sides being connected by sets of curved con centric water-tubes a a, arranged at; intervals along the whole length of the shell A, said shell A extending from one end of a reverberatory furnace to the other, and the Whole of the water-tubes and all of the said shell Abelow the upper portions of said water-tubes being inclosed in said reverberatory furnace, as 35 set forth.

G. B. N. TOWER.

Witnesses UnAs. F. SLEEPER, WM. ZITTEL. 

